


neon haze

by EllsterSMASH



Series: Three!verse [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Modern Thedas, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 12:32:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15461448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllsterSMASH/pseuds/EllsterSMASH
Summary: Prompt: [Distracting Kiss Prompt! For whichever pairing fits best! <3]Solas and Athi make a bet, but she has the advantage. He tries to fix that.





	neon haze

“Loser buys drinks?”

“Agreed,” and they shake on it. 

Athi practically skips to the machine, feeds it a few bills, and returns with a handful of tokens. “I can’t believe you’ve never played this before,” she says, inserting a few.

“And I cannot believe you  _ have _ . Did you shoo off a group of children in order to play?”

Her laughter, even at his expense, provokes an involuntary smile. 

“Are you serious? It’s a classic! It’s been around for ages. I played when I was younger. You seriously didn’t, even as a kid?”

“No,” he says.  _ I somehow doubt it existed. _

She explains the objective, the rules, the controls. Even throws in some pointers and gives him a practice round. It doesn’t last long. A minute or two, no more, of frenzied colors and confusion before a spiraling drain of disappointed notes signals his defeat.

Ready as he’ll likely ever be, he begins what she designates his “official attempt.” 

He makes it halfway through the third level.

A hand on his back, almost certainly the gloating sort. “Hey, not bad, not bad! I mean, not  _ great _ , but—” She shrugs a shoulder and dodges away from his teasing pinch, giggling despite her evasion.

“I suppose you intend to show me how it’s done, then?”

“You bet your fine ass I do.”

“No need, I offer that to you freely.”

“Do I get to cash that in before or after the drinks?”

A pause, a tilt of his head. “You may do so right now, if you’d like.”

She might blush at his suggestion, under the neon haze. The tips of her ears might burn a deep pink to match that far-off look on her face, but he can’t tell. Not in this light. Regardless, she shakes it off.

“Noted, but I made a bet that I intend to win.”

_ Plunk. Plunk. Plunk.  _ Tokens go in, and the screen lights up. She’s quick, her movements instinctive. The avatar cruises around the screen while her wrist flicks up and left, then down, then right and down again, faster than he can process it. Clearly, this is one of those things a person never forgets.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you!” Her eyes don’t leave the screen. “You want to collect these, they give you extra points.”

No matter that his turn is over. He doesn’t even know what ‘these’ are; he’s busy watching her. 

She calls it play, but makes it look important. All enthusiasm and intensity, and he wonders if she realizes. If she’s aware of the way her every thought skitters like sparks across her face and down her limbs. How her eyes alone hold a thousand different expressions. How her focus, when singular, rests in the tip of her tongue where it runs back and forth along her two front teeth. How her lips purse, ever so slightly, when she feels in control. How she bounces on her toes when she’s satisfied, or wiggles her fingers at the edges of the book while she reads.

“Don’t be weird. Watch the game,” she says.

“Why? I find you far more interesting,” and it is every bit the truth.

The music changes; she’s beaten the level, glares playfully in his direction for a moment before the next level begins. He sweeps his hand across her bare shoulder, brushes the stray strands of hair from the back of her neck.

“That’s cheating, you know,” she mutters, shivering slightly at his touch.

“I believe  _ you  _ are the one with the advantage. All your years of experience. I am merely evening the odds.”

“Sure you are.”

Her hair is pulled up in two little knots at the top of her head, exposing the skin behind her ear. She plays on when he kisses her there, but her brow tightens. He does it again as soon as she stops waiting for it.

“Solas!” A whisper, hissed and scolding. “There are kids here.”

“Then perhaps we should go somewhere else.”

His lips to her temple, then pressed into the smooth pillow of her cheek; she’s caught, loses a life and rounds on him in the brief intermission.

“What?” he says to the accusation on her face. “I thought that was rather chaste.”

“You’re testing my patience.”

“I am testing your focus.”

“Oh, you’re impossible.”

The game starts up again without her and she lurches back to the controls. He brushes his lips along the outer shell of her ear; her face scrunches up and she squeals in protest, but finishes the second level.

“ _ Cheater! _ ” And she whirls around to poke him, one long pointer finger right in the sternum.

It almost hurts; Solas rubs at his chest. “ _ I _ am not the one who can’t play a straight game of chess to save their life.”

“There’s no proof. Besides, it was strip chess, which makes the stakes much higher. Any cheating that did or did not occur was for a good cause.”

“Taking my shirt?”

“Was a  _ very  _ good cause.” She toys with the hem of the one he wears now.

“Of course. As opposed to this, which is . . . ?”

“Petty. And, ultimately, futile.”

He chuckles and kisses the part of her hair as she prepares for the third level. “We shall see.”

**Author's Note:**

> [on Tumblr!](https://ellstersmash.tumblr.com/post/176360556866/9-distracting-kiss-prompt-for-whichever-pairing)


End file.
